Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will be in Singapore for the 10th Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat from Oct. 29 to 30, at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

First Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat since Covid-19 pandemic

In January 2023, PM Lee invited Anwar to Singapore for the Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat during the latter's first official visit to Singapore as Prime Minister.

PM Lee hosted Anwar, his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and other Malaysian ministers then.

This will be the first Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The previous Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat took place in April 2019.

Then-Malaysia PM Mahathir Mohamad hosted PM Lee, Ho Ching and several Singapore ministers in Putrajaya in Malaysia.

An opportunity for both countries to take stock of the growing cooperation

According to Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the annual Leaders’ Retreat is the "key platform" for the two Prime Ministers to discuss bilateral issues and explore new areas of cooperation.

The 10th Leaders' Retreat will be "an opportunity for both countries to take stock of the growing cooperation".

Anwar will call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and meet PM Lee.

The Prime Ministers and their delegations will then meet for bilateral discussions and witness the signing of bilateral agreements on key areas of cooperation, MFA added.

Anwar will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers of foreign affairs, transport, investment, trade and industry, natural resources, environment and climate change, home affairs, just to name a few.

On Singapore's end, the delegation will include Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong, Senior Minister & Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Education and Foreign Affairs  Maliki Osman, Acting Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and Environment and for Manpower Dr Koh Poh Koon, and Attorney-General Lucien Wong.

Discussion on Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone?

Earlier in September, the Malay Mail quoted Johor Menteri Besar (chief minister) Onn Hafiz Ghazi and reported that leaders from both countries will be discussing the Terms of Reference (ToR) on the proposed Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ) during the October 2023 Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat.

Onn Hafiz was speaking during a state assembly on Sep. 14 when he said that both countries had agreed to the proposal for the Johor-Singapore SEZ during the 16th Malaysia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia (JMCIM) held in Singapore in July 2022, according to CNA.

He added that both Singapore and Malaysia also agreed to create a special task force to study the establishment of the Johor-Singapore SEZ, and that this had been discussed since end-2022.

Malay Mail further reported that both countries are expected to finalise the ToR after the retreat.

Anwar was last in Singapore in Sep. 2023

The last time that Anwar was in Singapore was on Sep. 13, 2023.

He was speaking at the Milken Institute's Asia Summit 2023 in Singapore on Sep. 13.

Top image from Lee Hsien Loong/Facebook